and, of late years, the Patent Office Reports-all these, valuable as they unquestionably are, and have been, are not sufficient to disseminate knowledge of the best modes of culture of the various productions of our widely-extended country. This, it may be said, would not disseminate such knowledge. No, it would not directly; but it would turn the attention of the public to agriculture, and that would be sufficient. I have no doubt you would soon see model farms established in every State, and agricultural schools in them, the pupils of which laboring on the farm, would carry into practice, one half of the time, instructions in science which they have received the other half. I believe it is a practice of some, when a new enterprise is proposed, to sit down and count up the costs. Well, the extra duties it would impose on assessors would not probably average more than six or eight days' labor a year. This to each county would not be much. What the extra expenses of the Patent Office would be, I am not able to say ; you, of course, would be the best judge. Printing the reports would be considerable. To reduce this item of expense, I would suggest that the public printer-after furnishing a proper number of copies of Reports for the use of the government-should be allowed to furnish subscribers with copies at as low a rate as he could afford. Now, if he had 200,000 or 200,000 subscribers, or half a million, or more, he could afford to furnish copies at a little over the price of the materials and labor, and have a handsome profit besides. The whole cost of an efficient agricultural organization would be very small. The federal government would enact laws to organize an agricultural bureau, and the State government would enact laws adding the above-mentioned duties to the assessors. If you have time, and think the above suggestions worthy of your attention, be so good as to drop me a line; let me have your opinion in regard to them. Yours, Hon. THоs. EWBANK, Commissioner of Patents, Washington City, D. C. R. WATT. NEAR RICHMOND, INDIANA, January 1, 1852. SIR: Through the kindness of my friend, George W. Julian, M. C., I received, some time since, a copy of thy Agricultural Circular, which I laid aside, intending to make a brief reply at some convenient time. I have again opened it this evening; and, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, I feel inclined to drop a few lines. Wheat.-Guano is not used in the production of this crop in this vicinity. From 1 to 2 bushels of seed is sown per acre, (usually 14 bushel.) Time of sowing from the 1st of September to the 15th of October. Early sowing generally preferred. Wheat has been sown in the months of June and July with moderate success. Harvesting usually commences about the 25th of June, and continues about 2 weeks. We seldom plough our ground more than Additional ploughings would generally pay-I think not always. Wheat is made faster with manures; stable manure is the best-for clay once. soils particularly. This it is best to spread after the plough, and before the harrow. Wheat, well manured in this way, cannot easily be winterkilled. The yield per acre is various-from 10 to 25 bushels-principally owing to the kind and strength of soil. Wheat has not been more than 50 cents per bushel; when harvested, will average 47 or 48 cents. It is said that sheep penned in a barn infested with weevil will effectually expel them. Fruit. The culture of this crop here does not receive as much atten tion as it deserves. Apples are, or rather would be, a profitable crop, did we have a cash market for them, which we hope soon to have. In a good fruit year we usually sell apples (hand-picked and delivered) at 20 cents (sometimes 25) per bushel; which yields a moderate remuneration. At 25 cents, apples would well pay for cultivation. I prefer budding to grafting, especially on small trees. When the bark peels the freest on a thrifty limb, half an inch, more or less, in diameter, make an incision with a sharp knife crosswise; then split the bark barely to the sap; from this cut downwards an inch or more with the point of the knife, and open the bark a little each side of this slit; from a twig grown since the preceding spring, in which the sap is also flush, cut a bud, with the bark of the twig an inch in length; carefully take out the wood that has been cut with it; slip the bud into the prepared place for it, as above; wrap moderately tight with a woollen thread; in two weeks take off this thread, and the nature of the tree is changed. If rightly budded, pears and apples seldom fail to "take;" peaches and cherries are much more uncertain. I budded a few cherries the past season in the way described; some of which have grown several inches; one about 2 feet. Thine, very respectfully, ROWLAND T. REED. COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS. MUNCIE, DELAWARE COUNTY, Indiana, SIR: Yours of August, 1851, making inquiry respecting agricultural products of this county, is now before me, and I return you the following: Wheat. There is no guano used in the production of crops in this county. The average product of wheat is about 15 bushels per acre. Time of seeding is about the 15th of September; harvesting, from the 1st to the 15th of July; quantity of seed per acre, 14 to 1 bushel. We plough generally, if fallow, twice; if in corn ground, once, and harrow once. The yield is increasing. Rotation is-first corn, then wheat, then clover, and then corn again, &c. No remedy for Hessian flies. Usual price per bushel is 40 cents. Corn. The average product is 35 bushels. No experiments have been tried here in feeding. We feed whole; no doubt there is a better way. Oats yield about 25; barley 25; rye 15. Seed used: oats, bushels; barley, 1; rye, 11. Peas are not cultivated. 2 Clover and Grasses.-One and a half ton per acre. is the only manure used. Stable manure Neat Cattle.-Cost of raising till three years old from $10 to $12; price from $12 to $14; good cows are worth from $12 to $15. Horses. The growing of horses is profitable. Cost of raising a colt or mule to three years is $40. Brood mares and colts should be tenderly treated and properly cared for; kept in good pastures, and sheltered in stormy weather. Colts should be handled while young. Hogs.-The best breeds are the Berkshire, Russia, and China. Potatoes yield from 100 to 150 bushels; the best variety is Meshanock. The Culture of fruit is receiving increased attention. There can be fruit enough raised upon one acre to render it profitable. The experiment for winter use and exportation not fully tried. Yours, respectfully, SAML. W. HARLAN. Hon. THOMAS EWBANK. COTTAGE HOME, HENRY COUNTY, INDIANA, SIR: In reply to your Circular, I answer: Wheat. The culture of wheat is receiving increased attention, and every year adds to the amount grown. It is either sown among corn, after wheat or oats, or on clover sward. The first frequently yields a good return, and some farmers believe it the surest crop. Wheat in this county is subject to be winter-killed. We have less snow than in the Atlantic States, and it is urged that the unevenness of the ground, and the dead corn stalks, protect the young wheat plants against the winter winds. The second, third, or even the fourth crop, especially in our rich alluvial bottoms, is sometimes better than the preceding ones. This fact has induced some farmers into the very erroneous belief that wheat may follow wheat ad infinitum. This error will be corrected and their folly punished by the exhaustion in their soils of the elements of wheat, or, at least, some of its elements. Wheat after clover is the surest crop, and the yield the greatest. The old "naked-fallow" system is generally abandoned. The weevil is unknown here; the Hessian-fly not a frequent visitor. The two formidable enemies of wheat here are the rust and the winter. Early sowing is the best defence against both. "White-chaff bearded" is the principal variety raised. Blue-stem has been tried by some farmers, and highly approved. Mediterranean wheat is not in much repute. Wheat is sown broadcast, two bushels to the acre. average crop per acre for the last year, 18 bushels; weight, about 61 pounds per measured bushel. Guano is not used for this or any other grain. Time of sowing, from the 1st to the 20th of September. Average price, 50 cents per bushel. The Corn is the great staple of Indiana. Average product per acre, 50 bushels. The cost per bushel varies greatly in different soils; average cost about 10 or 11 cents per bushel. Indian corn is a very hardy plant, and will grow on almost any soil; but its partiality for a rich, warm soil is manifested by its increased yield. Its maximum yield per acre is scarcely known. Deep ploughing, fertile soil, and good culture will seldom fail to produce 100 bushels to the acre. The kinds raised are the white, chiefly for bread, and a large yellow, for stock. The latter is the most productive, and is thought to be better for stock. For cattle it should be ground and steamed, or boiled. Prepared in this way, it will produce of fat double the amount of the same quantity fed in the ear. Corn is planted here about the first of May, in hills three and a half feet apart; four grains in a hill; ploughed three or four times with the shovel-plough, (the cultivator is sometimes used,) and dressed once with the hoe. Where the ground is mellow, and free from weeds, this last is dispensed with. Thriftless husbandry is the only enemy it has. Oats are not extensively cultivated. Average yield, 30 bushels to the acre. Barley and Rye are still less cultivated. Some farmers who have tried the former consider it excellent for horses, and a profitable crop. Peas and Beans are raised only for table use. Clover and the Grasses.-Few crops pay better for the labor of the cultivating than clover. The average yield is not far from one and a half ton per acre, but three tons are frequently grown. Clover yields. two crops in a year. The last crop is grown chiefly from the seed. It produces from one and a half to two bushels of clear seed to the acre. Price in the market, $5 per bushel. After the second crop it throws up a fine crop of aftermath, which, if turned under by the plough, is highly beneficial to the soil. Timothy is the principal grass grown for hay, and blue-grass for pastures. Timothy produces one crop (average about one and a half ton) per year, and a fine aftermath for fall pasture. It stands first among the grasses. The long ears, filled with seed, are extremely nutritive. Cattle, sheep, and especially horses, greatly relish it. Red-top is grown sometimes on wet land, but it is neither so productive nor so nutritive as timothy. Dairy Husbandry.-Of dairy husbandry I can give little account. Farmers usually keep enough milch cows to make their own milk and butter, and supply the home market. One farmer in the county pays considerable attention to the dairy, and it is said to be profitable; but I am not able to give the figures for it. Average price of butter, 10 cents per pound. Neat Cattle.-It is generally believed that cattle at three years old. may be bought for less than the cost of raising them. We live too near the prairies, where the pasturage of commons is unlimited, to compete successfully with our neighbors of Illinois in raising cattle. Cattle, however, if not satisfied, will live and thrive on coarse feed, such as wheat straw, the winter pickings of the corn-fields, &c. The largest and finest cattle cannot be raised entirely on this kind of food, but still they will winter upon it; and many farmers have herds of forty or fifty wintering around straw ricks. In the coldest weather they give them some grain. The Durham is thought to be an improvement on our native stock; and if to have large fine cattle be the only object in raising them, there can be no doubt of the fact. But as no accurate experiments have been made to test the matter, I am scarcely able to give an opinion. As opinions,. unsupported by actual experiments, are worth nothing, I shall not venture one. If the prevalent opinion is true, that mere beef-cattle cannot be raised to profit if grain-fed during winter, the excellency of the Durham may be questioned; for-though high feeding may not make Durhams of our common stock-it may be true that hard fare may produce the common stock, or something not superior to it, of the Durham. But time will test this matter. The Durham, it is believed, fats more easily than the native breeds. Much attention has been paid to the improvement of cattle, and some of the finest animals have been introduced. Horses.-Horses are in much demand, and raising them is thought profitable. A good horse, six years old, frequently sells for $100. Horses are generally taken to the South; some, however, to the eastern markets. Sheep-raising is yet in its infancy. Public attention is beginning to be attracted to the subject, and fine-woolled merino command a very high price. Hitherto only wool enough has been raised for domestic use; judging from present indications, a few years will make a great change in this respect. Hogs are first among our domestic exports. The breeds raised are crosses of several improved varieties with the native stock. The Berkshires, a few years ago, were in high repute; but now fallen-I think without much reason-sadly into disgrace. The hog is a great consumer; and to be raised with profit, should not be fed more than one winter. Pigs littered in the fall should always be brought into market the next fall. Clover, for summer feed, is decidedly the cheapest; corn ground and cooked, as I have already stated, is the best for fattening. When fed in this way, they should be kept in close pens. Hogs are frequently turned at large in the fields of corn, with full privilege of helping themselves. This costs less labor; but if it is true, as some experiments have shown, that corn ground and cooked will produce double the amount of fatted pork that corn fed in the ear will-bushel for bushelthen economy is not on the side of this wasteful practice. Tobacco. Some attention is beginning to be paid to the culture of tobacco; but I am unable to answer any of the queries in the Circular concerning it. Hemp is not raised. Root Crops.-These, as yet, are only raised for table uses. Attention is beginning to be attracted to the subject, and next season will witness several experiments of the culture of roots as a field crop. That they will ultimately constitute a part of our system of rotation of crops, I have no doubt. Potatoes, (Irish and sweet.)-The first are just recovering from the rot; they have never been raised here for other than table use. Last spring I planted several varieties together; by mid-summer the tops of all, except the long Johns, were destroyed by the blight, though the tubers were not affected. This kind continued to grow until frost, the tubers being large and numerous; while those of the other varieties scarcely paid for gathering. Ashes and well-rotted manure should be spread over the ground, and the potatoes dropped on top of the ground, rather than in furrows made by the plough. The sweet potato should be planted in hills, or ridges, (hills are better,) two and a half feet across at the base, tapering to one foot at |